Combination bar tool



May 19, 1959 A. H. HANSON COMBINATION BAR TOOL %s R E w 3 H o w h H l 4 EN o I J I 1 q. r Z A. 4 w iiu-u P U W M w v v /H m u, l l n A g m R m AB 6 5 9 l nw 3 L. u A d e l 1 F May 19, 1959 A. H. HANSON COMBINATION BAR TOOL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. so, 1956 INVENTOR.

ALFRED H. HAMSO/V Unimd ntO This invention relates to improvements in bar accessories and has particular reference to a novel and improved combination har tool capable of performing various functions as removing bottle corks, screw caps, etc.

In the preparation and serving of alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, it is necessary for a bartender or waiter to utilize a number of different accessories or tools for opening bottles and jars, and performing other acts required to serve drinks. These accessories must be carried on the person, particularly in the case of a waiter, resulting in the inconvenience of delay in locating the proper accessory and the frequent misplacement of one or another accessory or tool. In addition, the placement of a cork-screw in the pocket of a waiter or bartender often results in tearing of the pocket if the cork-screw point is exposed.

According to the invention, there is provided a combinationbar tool in the nature of a cork-screwhaving two hinged cover pieces which may be closed about said corkscrew to cover its point. The cover pieces may be pivoted open to expose the cork-screw when the latter is to be used for extracting bottle corks.

An object of the invention is to provide a bar tool of the character described which presents a compact and unitary structure when in closed position, so that it may be conveniently placed in the breast pocket without danger of injury to the clothing or to the person.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a bar tool of the character described in which the cover pieces also serve to perform numerous functions which are generally found, if at all, in separate bar implements and accessories. For example, the'ends of the cover pieces are so designed that they may be used for removing crown caps from bottles, screw caps from jars, and sealed shoulder corks having a top head. In addition, the intermediate portions of the cover pieces are formed with serrated edges so that the cover pieces may be used as pincers for removing small screw-type caps, and may also be used for recapping of the crown type bottle caps. Further, the body of one of the cover members is provided with a slicing device whereby strips of lemon peel of the required size and shape may be cut from a lemon for use in mixed drinks and the like.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent in the course of the following specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of the bar tool in its closed position showing the manner in which said tool is used in cutting a peel strip from a lemon and in removing the crown cap from a bottle;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the bar tool shown in Fig. 1, as viewed from the right hand side of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of the bar tool showing the tool in open position and the cork-screw inserted in the cork of a bottle;

21,886,994 Patented May 19, 1959 Fig. 5 is a central vertical section showing the bar tool in a partially opened position and in a position in which it would be used to open the screw caps of jars of two difierent sizes;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section as: taken along line 66 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a section taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of the bar tool shown partially open and as it is used to remove the shoulder cork from a bottle.

Referring in detail to the drawings, it may be seen that the bar tool generally comprises a cork-screw 10 and a pair of cover pieces 11 and 12; These cover pieces are hinged at their top ends to the top end of the cork-screw so that they may be pivoted between a closed position,

shown in Fig. 1, in which they cover up the cork-screw,

and an open position, shown in Fig. 2, in which the corkwelding. At the lower end of the shaft 13, immediately above the screw portion 14 is fixed a cylindrical metal block 17, for a purpose which will be presently explained.

The cover pieces 11 and 12 are substantially identical and the same reference numerals will be given to like parts on each of the pieces. Each cover piece 11 and 12 is made of a sheet of metal, such as stainless steel bent in a channel shape to provide an end wall 18 and a pair of side walls 19 and 20.

The side walls 19 and 20 are cut at their edges oppdsite the end wall 18 to provide the shape shown in the drawings. The cover pieces thus have top cut-away por tions 21 of truncated shape, having inclined inner edges 22. Immediately beneath these truncated topportions 21,

the cover pieces are formed with respective inwardly-project ing ears or tabs 23 and 24, by means of which the cover pieces 11 and 12 are pivoted together. The ears 23 and 24 which are integral with the respective side walls 19 and 20, have planar top surfaces 25 which are perpendicular to the inner edges 22 of the top portions 21.

Below the tabs 23, the side walls 19 and 20 of both cover pieces 11 and 12 are cut to provide arcuate edge.

portions 27 and immediately therebeneath arcuate serrated edge portions 28 of larger diameter. Immediately beneath the serrated edge portions28, the side walls 19 and 20 are provided with wide portions 31 having respective inwardly-bent terminal flanges 29 and 30. As shown in Fig. 3, the flanges 29 and 30 of the cover piece 11 are located to abut the corresponding flanges of the cover piece 12 when said cover pieces are in their closed position of Fig. l.

Below the wide wall portions 31, the side walls 19 and 20 have tapering inner edge portions 32 which terminate in inwardly-projecting perpendicular flanges 33. .As shown in Fig. 3, the ends of the flanges 33 have arcuate edges 34 which are relatively thin.

The pair of cars 23 of coverpiece 11 extend parallel to each other and are spaced from each other. The pair of ears 23 of cover piece 11. p

The cover pieces 11 and 12 are hinged together by a cylindrical metal pivot member 36 having a pair of terminal stub shafts 37. The stubshafts 37 extend through the centers of the interfitted pairs of ears 23 and :2,sse,994

24,,asshown in .FigS..g6,-and ,7,,the outwardly projecting ends of the stub shafts 37 being peened over to provide heads 38 which secure the cover pieces in their assembled relationship.

Thecylindricalpivot member 36has acentral bore 39 xtend n diam tr a y h e u hb re ably receives the cork-screw shaft 13. A helical compression spring 40 is mounted on the cork-screw shaft 13, the top end of the'spring being seated upon the pivot member 36 and the bottom end of the spring being seated upon'th e cylindrical block .17. The spring 40 acts to maintainthecover pieces releasably locked in their closed position of ,Fig. 1, as will be presently explained.

A bent wire spring 41 is used to bias the cover pieces 11 and 12 to their fullyopen position of Fig. 6. The spring 41 is .formed of a single piece of spring wire bent upon-itself to form a pair of legs joined at one end by a bight. The spring 41 extends between the cover pieces with @the bight endresting against the end wall 18 of cover piece .11, the free ends of the legs resting against the end .wall :18 of cover piece 12, and the center of the legs straddling the cork-screw shank 13 between the head piece 16 and the pivot member 36.

.When the cover pieces 11 and 12 are urged to their fully open position of Fig. 4 by the wire spring 41, the bottom surface of the head piece 16 restsflush upon the planar top surfaces of the ears 23 and 24, being pressed downwardly bythe downward biasing action of spring 40 upon the cylindrical block 17. In this position, the inclined inner edges 22 of the top truncated portions 21 abut the sides of head piece 16, preventing further outward pivoting of the cover pieces 11 and 12. The corkscrew is fully exposed and the cover pieces are inclined away from and clear of the cork-screw so that the latter may be effectively used for extracting corks from bottles, as indicated in Fig. 4.

Whenthe cover pieces v11 and 12 are pressed together, the planar top surfaces of the ears 23 and 24 are tilted relative to the headpiece 16, so that their inner ends raise the head piece at its center, as shown in Fig. 8. When the cover pieces are brought to their fully closed position of Fig. 1, in which the flanges 29 and 30 are in abutment, the.bottom surface of the head piece 16 is at the level .ofthe top surfaces of the truncated upper portions 21. The head piece 16 may then be rotated 90 fromits position of Fig. 4 until it is in the position of Fig. 1, with its longitudinal axis perpendicularto the pivotal axis of the cover pieces, and with its ends overlying the upper surfaces of the top truncated portions 21 of the cover pieces. Spring now biases the head piece 16 downwardly against the truncated portions 21, so that the cover pieces are locked in their closed position and the head piece is .frictionally held under tension against accidental rotation. In the closed position of thecover pieces, the pointed end of the corkscrew is located between and covered by the wide wall portions 31.

.In opening the cover pieces, the head piece is turned 90, and the spring .41 brings the cover pieces to their extended position of Fig. 4.

The bar tool is made of a size in which it is small and compact,.easily manipulated with one hand, and yet will give sutficient leverage for opening of jar caps and the like. It is preferred to make the bar tool approximately 4 /2 inches long, inch deep, and the head piece twoinches long. The drawings are substantially to scale and reference is made thereto for further disclosures.

The cork-screw 10 is of the improved type disclosed in my prior U.S. .Letters Patent No. 2,712,251. In this connection, the cylindrical metal block 17, in addition to. serving as a seat for spring 40, also cooperates with the helically-turned screwportion 1,4 for easy removal of a bottle cork. The .block 17 is of larger diameter than the turns of the screw portion 14, but of lesser diameter than the cork to ,be removed. As shown in Fig. 4, when the screw portion 14 is turned fully within a cork C of a bottle B, theblock 17 abuts thetop of said corkC. Downward pressure is nowapplied to the head piece 16, causing the block 17 to press the cork C downwardly in the neck of bottle B. Downward movement of the cork C in the neck of bottle B is limited by engagement of the arcuate cover piece wall portions 27 with the mouth of the bottle, these ,portions serving as stops to prevent the cork from being pushed entirely out of the bottle neck andinto the bottle. This downward movement of the cork C breaks any bondbetween the cork and the mouth of the bottle, so that the cork may now be slideasily out of the bottleneck by pulling upwardly on the head piece 16. It will thus be appreciated that the head piece 16 serves a dual function as a lock for the cover pieces when in. its position of Fig. 1 and as a handle for the cork screw when turned to its position of Fig. 4.

Inaddition;to;covering up the end of the cork-screw, the cover pieces ,11 and 12 are also constructed to perform other functions incident to bartending or to the preparation of drinks in the home. Fig. 1 showsthe bar tool in use in removing the crown cap D from .a carbonated beverage bottle E. For this purpose, the cover pieces 11 and Y12 are in theirclosed positions, and the arcuate edge 34 of one of the bottom terminal flanges 33 is inserted beneath the crimped peripheral portion of the crown cap D. The bar tool is then used as a lever, being tilted in a clockwise directionas viewed in Fig. '1, to pry the crown cap from the mouth of the bottle .E. The spacing between the arcuate edges 34 of flanges 33 ,is sufficiently Wide, in the closed position of the bar tool, to. enable a crown cap to be inserted therebetween in the manner shown in Fig. 1.

The bottom terminal flanges 33 are also useful in removing shoulder corks from liquor bottles. In Fig. 8 there is shown the neck of a bottle F which contains a cork G having a head H which overlies the mouth of said bottle. Asis the usual practice with such closures, the neck of the bottle F istprovided with a seal J which is generally a sheet of metal foil, transparent plastic film, or the like. The arcuate edges 34 of flanges 33 are placed at the junction of the cork head H and the mouth of bottle F and the cover pieces 11 and 12 pressed together, therebycausing the flange arcuate edges 34 to break the seal J and the flanges 33 to wedge themselves between the cork head H and the bottle mouth, as is shown in Fig. 8. The bar tool may then be rocked back and forth to loosen and raise the cork G, and then pulled upwardlyto extract the cork from the bottle neck, tearing the remainder of the seal J.

The flanges 33 may also be used to open screw cap jars having caps as large as four inches in diameter. Such jars are used as containers for cocktail onions, olives, pickles, etc. Fig. 5 shows the bar tool used in the manner of a pair of pliers to remove a large jar screw cap K, the arcuateedges 34 of the flanges 33 gripping the serrated periphery of the screw cap K while the cover pieces 11 and 12 are squeezed together and turned.

The flanges 33 have numerous additional uses incident to the work of bartenders or waiters, which uses, for the sake of economy are not shown in the drawings. It will be appreciated however that the flanges 33 may be used topry open the lids of vacuum packed jars, and also to grasp ice cubes so that thebar tool may serve as ice-tongs.

For removing the screw caps of jars or bottles of smaller diameter, such as the screw cap M in Fig. 5, the bar tool may beused as a pincer. the serrated arcuate edge portions 28 of the cover pieces 1.1 and 12 being used to grip the periphery of the screw cap M. These serrated edge portions may also be used to grip the bulbous heads of champagne corks, as Well as the protruding ends of corks which have been reinserted in the necks of bottles. For smaller jar or bottle caps and corks, the upper arcuate edge portions 27 of the cover pieces 11 and 12 may be used for the same purpose.

The bar tool is also provided with a cutting device for slicing strips of lemon peel of the proper size and thickness to be twisted and served in mixed drinks. The end wall 18 of the cover piece 11 is provided with two vertically-disposed, rectangular stamped-out portions 42 and 43. As shown most clearly in Fig. 5, the upper stamped-out portion 42 is bent inwardly, while the lower stamped-out portion 43 is bent outwardly, providing an aperture 44 therebetween. The edge 45 of the lower stamped-out portion 43 is sharpened to provide a cutting edge. As shown in Fig. 1, when the wall 18 of cover piece 11 is, slid along a lemon L, the edge 45 cuts a strip P of lemon peel. The lemon peel strips so cut will be uniform in width and thickness, thereby permitting the strip to be twisted, without breaking, into an attractive spiral for insertion in a mixed drink, as is the usual procedure.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein, it is obvious that numerous additions, changes and omissions may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

I claim:

1. A bar tool comprising a cork-screw having a straight shank and a helical portion terminating in a point, a pair of cover pieces for said cork-screw, said cover pieces being channel-shaped, and of greater length than said cork-screw, each cover piece having an end wall and a pair of spaced side walls, a pivot member for hingedly connecting the cover pieces to each other, the pivot member having a through bore slidably receiving the corkscrew shank, whereby said cork-screw extends centrally between said cover pieces, said cover pieces being pivotable between closed position in which the cork-screw is located within the channels of said cover pieces and is covered by said side walls and an extended position in which the bottom ends of said cover pieces are angularly divergent for exposing said corkscrew helical portion, a closure member fixedly mounted at the top of said corkscrew shank, said closure member being elongated and being turnable to overlie the top surfaces of said cover pieces to lock said cover pieces in their closed position, said corkscrew shank being axially slidable in the pivot member bore to permit the closure member to be raised above the top surfaces of the cover pieces and to be lowered between the top ends of the cover pieces in the extended position of the latter, and spring means urging said corkscrew shank in a downward direction whereby to press said closure member against the top surface of said cover pieces in the closed position of the latter.

2. A bar tool comprising a cork-screw having a shank and a helical portion terminating in a point, a pair of cover pieces for said cork-screw, and a pivot member hingedly connecting said cover pieces, each. of said cover pieces being channel-shaped and having an. end wall and a pair of spaced side walls, said pivot member being located between the upper ends of said cover piece side walls, the pivot member having a through bore slidably receiving the cork-screw shank with the cork-screw depending centrally between said cover members, said covor pieces being pivotable about said pivot members between a retracted position in which the cork-screw is contained within said cover piece channels with the pointed end thereof covered by the cover piece side walls, and an extended position in which the cover pieces are angularly divergent with the cork-screw exposed therebetween, said corkscrew shank having an elongated head piece and a cylindrical block located at the junction of said shank and the helical portion, said cover pieces each having narrow upstanding top portions, the cork-screw head piece being rotatable to a position in which its longitudinal axis is perpendicular to the pivotal axis of said. cover pieces and the head piece extends across the tops of said upstanding cover piece top portions when the cover pieces are in retracted position, said bar tool also, having a compression spring located between the pivot member and the cylindrical block, the compression spring biasing the head piece downwardly upon the top surfaces of the upstanding portions for releasably locking the cover pieces in retracted position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 458,087 Wilkinson Aug. 18, 1891 622,074 Reeder Mar. 28, 1899 1,093,768 Corkery Apr. 21, 1914 2,561,758 Snecker July 24, 1951 2,712,251 Hanson July 5, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 615,850 Great Britain Jan. 12, 1949 

